HYDERABAD: Rentals across a few commercial pockets such as Gachibowli and Financial district have seen a jump in the first half of 2017, due to increased demand for grade A office space from the IT and ITeS sectors, according to the latest report published by a real estate consultant.

Driven by IT and ITeS sector, nearly 2.2 million sft of commercial grade A office space was leased in commercial hubs such as Madhapur, Hi-Tec City, Raidurgam, Gachibowli, Kondapur and Financial District in the first half of 2017. While the city witnessed a total supply of close to 2.5 million sft in the same period, another 3 million sq.ft is expected to be added to this number by end of 2017, according to the half-yearly real estate market report published by CIRIL.

'Hyderabad commercial markets witnessed healthy leasing in the first half of 2017. The vacancy rates across major micro - markets also remain low at 4 - 8 per cent due to supply crunch and high demand. Hyderabad is expected to remain robust in terms of both demand and supply of commercial real estate space, for 2017', reads the report. Local industry experts predicted that the rentals across the Gachibowli-Financial district and the Hi-Tec City belt will continue to appreciate, till the last quarter of 2018. "While there is a high demand for Grade A office spaces, due to lack of supply, the rentals in commercial pockets such as the Gachibowli-Financial district market and Hi-Tec City market have now gone up. Rentals now stand at Rs 62 to Rs 65 per sft as against the 2014-15 rate which stood in the mid 40's. Going forward, since no new supply is expected before the first quarter of 2019, rentals in these commercial markets will continue to grow till the end of 2018," explained Sandip Patnaik, managing director (Hyderabad) of global real estate consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).